Not sure if this is going to be a series or not, but sometimes I wonder why — when someone says something with so much obviously wrong with it — no one seems to ask the obvious question. For example, Bill O’Reilly:
On Saturday, former Vice President Al Gore made a surprise appearance at the Netroots Nation convention in Austin, TX. In his speech, Gore praised the gathering of progressives, saying that they are part of an effort to “reclaim the integrity of American democracy.”
While the attendees of Netroots Nation received Gore with enthusiasm, his appearance has caused Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly to declare that Gore has “gone off the deep end.”
On his radio show today, O’Reilly claimed that Gore was now associating himself with the most “hateful group in the country.” “And I’m including the Nazis and the Klan in here,” said O’Reilly.” He then claimed that attending Netroots Nation was “the same as if he stepped into the Klan gathering.”
I haven’t seen anyone asking the obvious question: How exactly does Bill O’Reilly know what a Klan gathering looks like, let alone what it’s like to step into one?
Unfortunately, it’s not really Bush. Just the guy who’s playing him in a movie. But it is kinda funny that the lead actor in Oliver Stone’s Bush biopic has been arrested in drunken brawl.
Actors Josh Brolin and Jeffrey Wright were arrested during the early hours of Saturday morning after a fight in a bar in a Louisiana city, police said.
Sergeant Willie Lewis said the pair, who star in Oliver Stone’s new film about George W Bush, were held along with five other people in Shreveport.
Officers would not confirm whether Mr Brolin or the others had been released. The Times of Shreveport newspaper said the others arrested were also working on the film, called W.
Filming began in May.
Mr Brolin, who has also starred in American Gangster and No Country for Old Men, plays President Bush.
Wright, best known for playing Felix Leiter in the last two James Bond films, plays former Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Only at a gay pride event (NYC Gay Price, to be specific) would this song become an audience participation number. Pardon me while I have an “Effie Moment.”
Well, I’m sure there’s going to be something wrong with this movie. It’s irreverent — and probably smart, funny, and more than a little sarcastic — and it’s about religion. Oh, and it stars Bill Maher. So, given the subject matter and all, it’s probably not nearly deferential enough.
But it sure looks good. I may not see Religulous in the theaters, but I’ll stick it in my Netflix queue when it come out on DVD.
I’ll admit, I’ve never been a huge fan of Rap. Yes, I have a playlist on my iPod, but it’s mostly the “old” stuff, starting with the Sugarhill Gang and proceeding chronologically through most of the stuff I grew up with. But most of what’s out today as far as rap is concerned, I can’t say I’ve listened to most of it. Maybe I come across the occasional Kanye West video on YouTube, but that’s it.
But there’s one exception. An L.L. Cool J video will stop me dead in my tracks. Every. Time. So, I was amused to read via Rod that evidently men have a hard time admitting they like L.L.
LL: You know, you have certain guys that are uncomfortable admitting they like LL ’cause they feel like it’s some type of ego issue with LL. “I can’t say that, you know? That’s for you: I can’t.” You know, all that frontin’ and all that.
S2S: Men can’t say that another man looks good or something like that?
OK, I know I’m being completely superficial here. But this guy would only have to ask me to marry him once.
Spanish pop singer Enrique Iglesias says he has tried repeatedly to convince his girlfriend Anna Kournikova to marry him — with no luck.
Iglesias spoke to reporters Friday after arriving in the Dominican Republic for the first of nine concerts planned across Latin America.
Iglesias says he’s been involved with the tennis star for at least three years and says she keeps ignoring his appeals to wed. In his words, “I always try, but she pays me no attention.”
I mean, what’s the problem? He seems like a good guy with a good heart to me. Hell, I’d keep an officiant on retainer and ready to be there in 15 minutes or less the next time he asked.
But maybe she has her reasons. Or maybe it’s just something he tells the press when they ask him when about marriage, etc.
It’s official. I’m an old fart. Or, well, at least I’m not as young as I used to be. But it didn’t completely gel for me until I read this article about the dearth of decent anti-war songs in today’s popular music scene.
An unpopular president, an unpopular war, a restless young generation eager for change — all the elements of a mass protest culture would seem to be present in this election year.
But one thing is missing: a mass culture.
The Vietnam era produced an entire genre of anti-war and cultural protest songs, the best-known of which became anthems of the age.
Iraq and the Bush presidency have inspired lots of music in this tradition, but nothing that has gained a large popular audience or is vying to be a generational anthem.
One of the films that probably influenced me the most as a burgeoning gay boy back in the 80s was Bad Boys. I’m not sure how I saw it. I think I may have been changing channels, and came across it. I don’t remember whether I was at home or somewhere else, but I remember I stopped changing channels the minuteSean Penn appeared on the screen.
I was around 14 when it came out in 1983, and by then I’d already figured out that I liked other boys. I’d already come out to some of my high school classmates. So, when I saw Sean Penn swagger onto the screen, I was mesmerized. It didn’t hurt that he bore a strong resemblance to a (straight) classmate I was madly in love with. At the time, I was sure I wouldn’t mind at all being locked up with Sean Penn. I wouldn’t mind locking lips with him either.
It’s almost Oscar time again. I have to admit, when Oscar night rolls around again, it makes me nostalgic for some aspects of my pre-parenting life. (Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t take anything in the world for stuff like Parker handing me a birthday card me made himself yesterday, or playing on the floor with Dylan and hearing him laugh.) Time was, by the time the awards rolled around, I would usually have seem most or all of the nominated performances and films. If I went to an Oscar party and joined the Oscar pool, I’d make a decent score and even win on occasion.
Now, if I’ve seen one or two nominated films or performances, I count myself lucky. That’s because getting to a movie nowadays requires slightly less planning than the Normandy invasion. Maybe more. If it isn’t available on Netflix, chances are I won’t see it.
But I have seen lots of movies over the years. And after seeing this list of the 10 best Oscar Best Pictures of all time, I thought it might be fun to compile a list of my own. Read the rest of this entry »
Ed Note: This was so much fun, I decided to update the post with a few more casting choices and bump it back up to the top of the blog.
I admit it. I’m one of those people who reads the tabloids while I’m standing in line at the grocery store. (I figure I still have some time before Parker figures out what I’m reading.) I already knew that Oliver Stone is planning a Bush biopic. What I didn’t know was that Josh Brolin will portray Dubya. At least not until I noticed a tabloid headline blaring that Brolin’s stepmom, La Streisand, is furious that he’s doing the part, (and Brolin is allegedly furious that she’s furious) because she’s worried that Dubya might get a sympathetic portrayal. (Meanwhile the folks at Fox & Friends are worried that Streisand’s stepson in the lead role means it’ll be a “hit piece.”)
The tabloid piece got me thinking: who else would I cast in the picture? Brolin is the only cast member listed right now, so the rest of the cast is anybody’s guess. The folks at Radar have already taken a stab at guessing. And while they’ve made some interesting choices, including a few I would have also made, I think there’s still room to make some suggestions of my own. (And, Oliver, if you’re reading this, all I ask is a brief walk-on and/or casting credits.)
When I was a little boy, growing up in Augusta, GA, I wanted to be famous. Actually, I wanted to be a star. I sang along with the radio and one day discovered I had a voice, and eventually—happily—discovered that some people even enjoyed hearing it.
My sister, her best friend, and I used to dream of fame. We made up songs, and sang them into tape recorders. After we saw The Wiz, we learned all the songs, cast ourselves in the parts (I was the scarecrow) and acted out scenes. We dreamed of moving to Hollywood, where it would all happen, of course.
Now, decades later, I’m no closer to fame than I was then, and light years away from stardom. But what I’ve seen from this distance has me thinking that perhaps my youthful dreams are best left that way. I’m not sure I’d want the glare of spotlight that never, ever shuts off shining into every aspect of my life, or on my family. Not based on what I’ve seen and read lately.
I probably shouldn't say this, but I work on K Street. I've even bumped into Robert Novak once, when we were both pedestrians, crossing the street in opposite directions. Now, I'll have remember to keep an eye out, and look both ways before I cross the street, lest Robert Novak run into me.
I don't really care about the Madonna/Alex Rodriguez affair story, because I'm not married to either of them. But in this day and age why would anyone (who's not "in the business" and getting paid for it) intentionally record their sexcapades on video? Why, when there are a thousand different ways for someone to get and distribute that video? How dumb do you have to be to make a 'sex tape' nowadays?
Maybe I'm taking this the wrong way, and I know these aren't Warren Buffett’s actual words of widsom, but nothing irritates me more than hearing things like "Happiness comes from within," and "Find happiness in simple pleasures." From a billionaire? Easy for him to say...
Gimmick or no gimmick, I would sodance with Lance. Hey, I took ballroom dancing in college, and was pretty good at it. Later, I learned to two-step in a gay C&W bar, and was pretty popular because I was a good follower. Not like dragging around a sack of potatoes. So, Lance, you can lead if you want to...
I knew there was a reason I'm not buying an iPhone today. (Besides the fact that I don't "need" one, and the reality that I don't need to spend that much on a tech purchase. It looks like Apple's having a pretty bad day, along with people who did buy iPhones that currently don't work due to server problems.
My friends and I used to joke that in D.C. it's a law that in DC, you're never more than a block from Starbucks. When tourists stop me and ask where's nearest Starbucks, I usually end up pointing in three different directions. But that may change.
I'm getting tired of wanting to write, and needing to write, but not writing because writing is not my job. Anybody know anyone looking to hire a writer?
Actors Josh Brolin and Jeffrey Wright were arrested during the early hours of Saturday morning after a fight in a bar in a Louisiana city, police said.
One of the films that probably influenced me the most as a burgeoning gay boy back in the 80s was 
Ed Note: This was so much fun, I decided to update the post with a few more casting choices and bump it back up to the top of the blog.
Posts
Entries (RSS)